hello Hambers,finally i started up my long time desired Merc 50 kustom project ... i'm a big fan of the 49/51 Mercs and have 7 of em right now,all in stand by ready to be cutted... so,after setting up place and logistics here the 1st raedy for the full treatment... just a short intro:here in Mexico i've seen couple of Mercs badly chopped and ruined definately,that's why i waited my buddy Tom from Australia to come and join the projects...he knows his stuff! Any comments,suggestions and positive insults welcome...sled My buddy Magnus B will take care of resizing all the pix,thanx in advance buddy.... Let's have some fun now!!!! sled
I cant see the pics? use www.imageshack.us to upload some photos. and SEVEN?! did I see that right?! life just aint fair man
fencepost,thanx for the hint on loading pix but i'm kinda busy myself and i let our fellow Hamber Magnus B loading all the pix with my written text...much easier for me. just be patient a bit,he will upload some start pix asap.... can saythe car is really a piece of mexican junk,sorta swiss cheese,holes all over....but,hey..is a 50 Merc,deserves to be saved!
mynameisnotpete,YUP...7 only counting the 49/51...i have a 40 coupe too,not for sale sorry!! have some more located around Mexico,wil get em as soon i have some more space..now i don't know where to store em,lotsa space needed. hey,don't be jealous...will show em here on hamb anyway sooner or later.... as said now i'm set with the logistics and i can really build something fast finally...i'm kinda happy about,a dream come true!!! glad to share it here fellas....
i forgot,ALL coupes of course...i don't like 4 doors!! but actually a moredooor 50 is comin tomorrow my way,was sittin in the mountains and a friend right now is gonna gettin for me... plan is to do as ETHER did ,convert the moredoor to a 2 door and a Carson top later on....
damn i have 3 and trying to get a 4th if i can work out a deal. i thought i was ballin' w/ 49-51 merc projects.
Sorry, I'm a bit slow here for all you Mercury hungry. Sleds message: hello Hambers,beeing a big fan of 49/51 Mercs i finally had the chance to really start building one in mexico,full kustom...planeed this for long time but so many adventures in between stopped me from the project...i'm exited to start finally! bought this junk pile on pix,and never seen the car before but who cares???is a 50 Merc and i tell ya,even here are hard to find... so the mission was to save it at any cost.have 7 other Mercs coupes in better conds but logistically this one was close by,so let's cut this one first...the rest will be easier. don't know who had the idea to mount a 454 big block on it,but ok.,..let's see what to do with it.don't know yet.... plan is to build something reliable and traditional anyway,nothing fancy ...just somethin to improve driveability but the look must be a classic one....chopped,frenched headlights ,shaved handles and so on...lowered but not bagged... Mexico roads suck,lots of speed bumps all over ....not possible to have a extreme low stance here...so the stance must be adequate as the 50's cars,such as Bad Bob car aprox... well,car was sitting since long time abandoned....as usual here lot of stuff around sittin.probably someone tried to build it and stopped due to lack of money,we know how it goes...
just received the car at the werehouse...tryin to make a general inventory of the damage and ready for a cleanup.... the engine is turnin free by hand,sounds good... around rear window the roof is all gone and rusty....no brackets either. trunk floors look gone too useless rockers and lot of bondo on side body panels...up to 1". yep,picture starts to be clear..will be a radical project,but hey...a 50 Merc does'nt grow under the trees,let's have some fun!!!
cleaning time..surprisingly the floors are kinda solid in most parts and original...trunk floors are gone,so most of rear quarters panels the 454 turns free is already clear that needs lots of metalwork,but is part of the game ok,more to come..reno
ooops. I posted the wrong pics. These are the ones that goes with this mesasge from Sled: discovering rust issues...probably it will be much worse after the sandblasing process,will see what comes up
a general overwiew on details to start planning what to do...well,we started officially 1 of december,3 weeks now... after some first toughts we're almost ready to take the thing apart.we'll go for a frame off way,much cleaner to work with....everything will be new or overhauled! Go,man,go!!!
started to take engine out,windows and so much shit possible....all stuff in bags and named to avoid mixmatching stuff later on don't know what to do with the engine yet,will see start to flippin out ideas and what if toughts....
can't wait to send it over to sandblastin...gotta go!!!!lot more surprises found,more than 1" of bondo and shitty welding to hold 3/4 panels....pretty much bent all over. perhaps need a donor car to save lot of fabrication work...
jesse,looks familiar,isn't it?? you know already the kinda fun,don't ya?? congrats for your cool work there...was nice to see! how many mercs did you chopped,btw???
3 days later,voila'....the swiss cheese Merc came back,much better now..looks almost new!! clearly after the sandblasting more holes popped up,but at list the metal work will be totally done,even is hidden details.. Tom is a perfectionist,and he will go the hardest and cleanest way on his job..of course i let him free hand!
the front left post is damaged,needs replacing before the chopping...also a good variety of holes everywhere.. the rear section is pretty much all gone...not even place to brace it for the rosticcery... frame has been painted by now..later on depending the engine we'll build some motor/tranny mounts at the correct place...
rosticcery time...much easy to work on!and all braced up,to avoid any twisting during the cuttings...as you see the rear end is very thin and needs full redone!among other parts
Holy shit all in one day? I really gotta get my act together. Seems like you have everything in order.
the A post needs to go,so a new one has been shaped...actually there are 3 pieces joined togheter there.more details showed about on next post....